Moving beyond the FMA
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We should be working to remove government from marriage.

Politics is defined as "the authoritative allocation of resources and values." Government is defined as "the monopolistic use of force." Combining the two, we see that government politics is using force to assign resources and values. When government is given control over marriage, politicians have the power to use force against you if you have different family values than the politicians. The Chinese government values population control and uses force to severely punish families that have more than one child. The US government uses force, through laws and regulations, to reward or punish people based on their family status. Tax laws, Social Security and veterans' benefits, educational financial aid, welfare, control over healthcare, and more are all affected by your family status.

The US government was designed by our Founding Fathers under the belief that government's sole purpose is to protect the rights of individual citizens. Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence "that all men are created," by God, with rights, and "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men...." Unfortunately, our modern government has moved beyond protecting individual rights and moved into choosing winners and losers. If your values agree with the current politicians, then you win. If your values disagree, you will lose. Of course, the politicians in control frequently change, and those in charge can change the regulations and laws at any time. So, whether you are a winner or a loser today, it can change tomorrow.

Supporters of the FMA are trying to use government to punish homosexuals, by denying them the benefits of government favor. Certainly, Christians should have moral disgust if our money is taken through taxes and used to support homosexual relationships, which we find morally unacceptable. But, the answer is not in using government force to reserve those government handouts for ourselves. Our response should be to return government to its rightful place as solely a protector of the individual rights with which all men are created. The government, under the Constitution, has no legitimate power to be taking our tax dollars and distributing them according to the in vogue values.

To restore rightful government, we must remove from government one of its primary criteria with which it controls, discriminates, and assigns resources and values—its regulation of marriage. If government was out of the marriage business, the government would no longer be able to tax married people differently or force you to recognize gay marriage. To continue to fight for laws, amendments, and regulations that reward our marriages while denying those rewards to others is literally to advocate the use of force against others, and to provide the government with the power to use that force against us. Many Christian leaders, such as James Dobson, have said that if the government allows gay marriages, then a time may come when churches will be required to perform gay marriages. Unfortunately, when those leaders advocate laws that restrict marriage to heterosexuals, they are also giving the government the power to later force churches to perform gay marriages. By giving the government the power to deny something, we also give it the power to require that same thing. By removing government from marriage, we remove from government the power to deny or require gay marriage, and thereby ensure the choice of who to marry, and who to recognize as married, remains within our churches.

The process will not be easy.

Removing government from marriage, and returning Constitutional government, will require tremendous effort on the part of Christians. Ever since the New Deal offered us a government that would manage and guide our futures, the government has gradually gained more and more power over our lives. While our elected representatives have failed in their responsibility "to protect and defend the Constitution," we as citizens are ultimately to blame. As a constitutional democracy, we choose the people who are to ensure the Constitution survives. However, many citizens, and many Christians, have chosen representatives who would ignore the Constitution. We wanted government to reward our values and assign our values to others. For decades, Christians gave more and more power to the government, believing that the government would enforce Christian values, such as traditional marriage. As government began to turn against our values, we tried even harder to get our values enforced. The powers we gave the government are now the powers we fear—and yet our continued response is to continue feeding the government more power.

The time has come to stand up and refuse to let the government have such power. We must demand that the government abide by those rights our Constitution encompasses, such as the rights to freely express our views, to hold our own religious beliefs, to be secure in our possessions, and to participate in our government. Constitutional rights protect us from certain outside force being used against us. And we must demand that the government abide by those limits the Constitution places on its powers. The Constitution was designed to limit the power of government, not the freedom of individuals. That is what we should work toward.

God has called us to be stewards (managers) of the resources he has provided to us. As citizens of the United States, we have the resource of our votes and our ability to influence government. Being involved in government is the right thing to do. But, the goals for which we are involved must be right. As good managers, and responsible citizens, we must be aware of our civic rights and responsibilities, the actions of our government, and the demands our theology places on our actions. God's call and our civic call are not easy. The fight will not be easy. But the rights and responsibilities we enjoy were not gained easily.

Roger Williams, a Baptist minister, suffered government wrath to bring religious freedom to America. Our Founding Fathers, "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence," risked everything to sign the Declaration of Independence. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, several hundred thousand of whom have given their lives over our history, relentlessly stand guard against tyranny. Our rights and responsibilities have been secured for us at a high cost. Let us practice them wisely and protect them fervently.

Bruce Sabin
bruce@brucesabin.com

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